Proper Church Attire

[zab]

THIS IS WAY OFF TOPIC, BUT I’M GOING TO REPLY:

I totally agree. I grew up in nursing in Canada in the 1970’s. We were NEVER to wear scrubs in or out of the hospital. Then in the 90’s I went to England to work. Same rules!! They supplied locker/change rooms in the hospitals for the purpose of changing.
Then I came to the USA in 1998. No lockers, no change rooms, and this is a VERY large teaching hospital I work in. We wore all sorts of colours of scrubs and shoes. It took me a long time to rid of the white, but I never got into patterns. I hated to see people wearing them in public.

What you need to realize is, that you don’t really know the circumstances of that person.
I have since been promoted to a desk/computer position of data collection. I do NOT touch or talk to patients any longer. So wearing my “day attire” to morning mass, brings in NOTHING and certainly doesn’t take it to the patients, since I don’t see patients.

If I had a change room in the hospital, I would think about changing there like in the old days. But those days are long gone. Now we simply have to use common sense. If you’ve been working in a clinical area for 12 hours, in and out of MRSA hospital rooms. Don’t take it to the public. Take it home and remove it immediately and wash it. Of course if the nurse is using proper contact isolation precautions all day, he/she need not worry about getting ANY of this on the scrubs.

It was a great post until you got to the part, “What you need to realize…”

 

[Michael57]

Vest Tops are a vest worn as a shirt or blouse, rather than over one.

As the kids say…“ewww” (you really wouldn’t want to see me dressed this way )

 

[zab]

As the kids say…“ewww”

Say it again Mike.

 

[zab]

I would be heart-broken if I were to see this. The Lord instructed us to feed the hungry and clothe the naked. I would do my best to see that they are welcomed and helped.

Alas, there are those that say “I can’t go to Church for I have no clothes worthy of it”, or “I am too poor and embarrassed of it and I can’t go to Church”, and to them I would say, “Come and be welcome. Let us show you our love, and Christ’s Love.”

Say it again, Mike

 

[Michael57]

So according to the above statement I will now have to stop attending Mass on my way to work in the morning? I guess this also eliminates me from attending the noon Mass during the day also?

I do wear a sweater or jacket over the scrubs, I don’t touch a patient all day, but apparently, you presume you know what I do at work as you state I’m carrying disease into or out of the hospital. Nurses, believe it or not are very well educated on disease control. I do believe we can make that call, and decide if we’ve been into something we may be carrying around with us.
I guess, I’m down to only attending Mass on Sunday now.

That’s not what I was saying at all.

Please read post #17.

 

[Michael57]

Say it again, Mike

Okay.

It again.

 

[Becca3]

Okay.

It again.

 

[maryjk]

Scrubs or uniforms I think would be exempt, or would be part of the code, right? Makes sense to me.

And I don’t think anybody has advocated ‘no jeans’ or ‘no pants for women’, right?

And as for the homeless, surely if we see people approaching who are in ragged clothes, wouldn’t we welcome them and then after Mass make sure that they received what they needed? Food, clean clothing, help. . .

You wouldn’t think so. But …

I don’t want to upset anyone but this matter, I believe, deserves attention.

A reminder: GIRM directs that “Readers may wear the alb or other appropriate and dignified clothing.” No doubt there are some quite elegant short-sleeved outfits for ladies! Certainly in this time and culture one would hardly consider that there is any lack of modesty in them.

But it would be a stretch to call them dignified.

This poster wants to prohibit short sleeves for women. It seems to be only for readers, but how long would it take to ban them for all women??

Now, these past two weeks going to Mass, it was such a shock to me to see people come in with slacks and some were wearing shorts. I am not judging or condemning anyone, I just felt uncomfortable seeing that. I feel like that was a sign of disrespect to God in the chapel. I would like to hear your thoughts on this.

And Becca3 seems to have a problem with slacks.

So, yes, people are advocating no pants for women. What do you think those people would think about jeans? Or scrubs?

 

[zab]

What are you laughing at? (just kidding)

 

[cheezey]

As I have mentioned on another thread, my mother was the first to wear pants (70s pant suits!! eww!) in our church, and yes, in the 70s, of course.
Many a tongue wagged.

In thanks!!

The next week, there were scores of women wearing pants!!

 

[zab]

As I have mentioned on another thread, my mother was the first to wear pants (70s pant suits!! eww!) in our church, and yes, in the 70s, of course.
Many a tongue wagged.

In thanks!!

The next week, there were scores of women wearing pants!!

I went away to college in '69 and came home for the summers. It was in the early '70’s that my mother started wearing pants I could hardly believe it because she was no liberal. Until then, the only time that I had seen her in pants was when she wore my dad’s overalls to go blackberry picking in the woods. We had cold winters and an old house with no insulation that had a coal burning stove that didn’t heat all of the rooms. Who can blame her for going along with the times as far as wearing pants?
I don’t think having a suggested dress code should allow people to judge others by what they wear. It should be something useful to help people to understand what is and is not appropriate to wear to Mass.

 

[ccmcmg]

Scrubs or uniforms I think would be exempt, or would be part of the code, right? Makes sense to me.

And I don’t think anybody has advocated ‘no jeans’ or ‘no pants for women’, right?

And as for the homeless, surely if we see people approaching who are in ragged clothes, wouldn’t we welcome them and then after Mass make sure that they received what they needed? Food, clean clothing, help. . .

I think it is a kind of false ‘empathy’ to argue that instead of trying to ‘clothe the naked’ we should let ourselves be just as naked, in order not to offend them. . .

I could not care less if someone off the street came in with dirty clothes; however, no matter how hard you try, when people (mostly women/teen girls) are wearing clothes that reveal too much skin (super short skirts, tight short hot-pants, low cut revealing dresses and tops, plumber’s crack), it is distracting to people around them, not to mention some of the things I’ve seen by EMs or at LifeTeen Mass.

I don’t think a dress code implies that one must wear new clothes, or expensive clothes; it outlines the standards of decency. Even bars and clubs have dress codes (dresses, collared shirts, etc; some are for gang reasons, but others are for decorum). Who wouldn’t make an exception for a homeless person? But if you have the means or are able NOT to dress like a homeless person or hooker, than you should dress appropriately.

It saddens me to see the disrespect to our Lord in His own House of worship by people wearing such revealing clothes. I wouldn’t be opposed to ‘wraps’ in many colors and sizes available near the doors. I believe that is what many foreign temples/churches have available for tourists.

 

[maryjk]

Scrubs or uniforms I think would be exempt, or would be part of the code, right? Makes sense to me.

I just realized that you thought I meant people coming from work.

No, I meant the time that I had stayed all day at the hospital with my sick mother. I had rushed into the hospital, wearing old shorts and a t-shirt. I left the hospital to attend Mass.

With a dress code, I would have missed Mass that weekend.

 

[SMHW]

As I have mentioned on another thread, my mother was the first to wear pants (70s pant suits!! eww!) in our church, and yes, in the 70s, of course.
Many a tongue wagged.

In thanks!!

The next week, there were scores of women wearing pants!!

Hmmm. That sounds about right for when women began to wear pants to Mass.

I went away to college in '69 and came home for the summers. It was in the early '70’s that my mother started wearing pants I could hardly believe it because she was no liberal. Until then, the only time that I had seen her in pants was when she wore my dad’s overalls to go blackberry picking in the woods. We had cold winters and an old house with no insulation that had a coal burning stove that didn’t heat all of the rooms. Who can blame her for going along with the times as far as wearing pants?
I don’t think having a suggested dress code should allow people to judge others by what they wear. It should be something useful to help people to understand what is and is not appropriate to wear to Mass.

If you don’t mind my somewhat incredulous questioning… Where did you live back then that your mother never wore pants?

My 1960s recollection is that women wore dresses when they were going to some kind of special occasion but not when they were hanging around the house, driving the kids to school, or running to the grocery store. (In fact I remember there was a bit of a flap at my Catholic grammar school because the pastor and the principal thought women should wear dresses or skirts if they had to get out of the car when picking up students. Most of the mothers thought that was rather crazy (and pretty much used that as an excuse not to have to visit a classroom or the office.)

 

[cheezey]

Hmmm. That sounds about right for when women began to wear pants to Mass.

If you don’t mind my somewhat incredulous questioning… Where did you live back then that your mother never wore pants?

My 1960s recollection is that women wore dresses when they were going to some kind of special occasion but not when they were hanging around the house, driving the kids to school, or running to the grocery store. (In fact I remember there was a bit of a flap at my Catholic grammar school because the pastor and the principle thought women should wear dresses or skirts if they had to get out of the car when picking up students. Most of the mothers thought that was rather crazy (and pretty much used that as an excuse not to have to visit a classroom or the office.)

My mom wore house dresses, then dressy dresses for outings…
We have Laura Petrie/MTM to thank for the revitalization of capris!!!

 

[zab]

I could not care less if someone off the street came in with dirty clothes; however, no matter how hard you try, when people (mostly women/teen girls) are wearing clothes that reveal too much skin (super short skirts, tight short hot-pants, low cut revealing dresses and tops, plumber’s crack), it is distracting to people around them, not to mention some of the things I’ve seen by EMs or at LifeTeen Mass.

I don’t think a dress code implies that one must wear new clothes, or expensive clothes; it outlines the standards of decency. Even bars and clubs have dress codes (dresses, collared shirts, etc; some are for gang reasons, but others are for decorum). Who wouldn’t make an exception for a homeless person? But if you have the means or are able NOT to dress like a homeless person or hooker, than you should dress appropriately.

It saddens me to see the disrespect to our Lord in His own House of worship by people wearing such revealing clothes. I wouldn’t be opposed to ‘wraps’ in many colors and sizes available near the doors. I believe that is what many foreign temples/churches have available for tourists.

Great post. And this is the heart of it, that the dress code " outlines the standards of decency." It is not a means of judging people because of some valid excuse for not being in proper attire

 

[zab]

Hmmm. That sounds about right for when women began to wear pants to Mass.

If you don’t mind my somewhat incredulous questioning… Where did you live back then that your mother never wore pants?

My 1960s recollection is that women wore dresses when they were going to some kind of special occasion but not when they were hanging around the house, driving the kids to school, or running to the grocery store. (In fact I remember there was a bit of a flap at my Catholic grammar school because the pastor and the principle thought women should wear dresses or skirts if they had to get out of the car when picking up students. Most of the mothers thought that was rather crazy (and pretty much used that as an excuse not to have to visit a classroom or the office.)

I grew up in Southeast Mo. in a small town. Yes, we teenagers wore slacks and jeans around the house at that time, even though girls had to wear a dress or skirt to the public schools, but my mother and most of the women I knew (mothers of my friends) wore dresses even around the house. It was odd to see my mom wearing slacks.

 

[Aramis]

Several issues…

What I generally tell people about attire for liturgy

1. The important thing for attire for attending: Modest.
2. Second most important thing for attire for attending: clean.
3. not causing distraction to others is 3rd

3 is really where shorts, short sleeves, logo or picture shirts and jackets, hot pink or neon green, and a number of others fall. If, in your local community, short sleeves are a non-issue, then short sleeves are fine. If, on the other hand, you live in a middle eastern community surrounded by sharia-zealot muslims, short-sleeves on women will be a scandalous distraction.

Far better to be there in clean and modest blue-jeans and loose T-shirt than in immodest evening wear or in a smelly suit.

Also, the papal audience requirements are not the general requirements - Papal audiences are particularly traditionalist. Similar restrictions exist for meetings with most heads of states. Like the difference in what one wears to a job interview for a playground monitor job and what one wears while working the playground.

 

[Michael57]

As I have mentioned on another thread, my mother was the first to wear pants (70s pant suits!! eww!) in our church, and yes, in the 70s, of course.
Many a tongue wagged.

In thanks!!

The next week, there were scores of women wearing pants!!

Were they Electric Lime Green?

Or Electric Canary Yellow? :bigyikes:

Or Psychedelic Chartreuse? :crying:

Oh, the humanity!

(I wonder what future generations will find hilarious about our style of dress today. I still remember that I just HAD to get flared bell bottoms as a sophomore in HS. I was going to DIE without them. But I was very into being an “individualist”, as long as I looked like everyone else. )

 

[cheezey]

Were they Electric Lime Green?

Or Electric Canary Yellow? :bigyikes:

Or Psychedelic Chartreuse? :crying:

Oh, the humanity!

(I wonder what future generations will find hilarious about our style of dress today. I still remember that I just HAD to get flared bell bottoms as a sophomore in HS. I was going to DIE without them. But I was very into being an “individualist”, as long as I looked like everyone else. )

actually, it was a green pantsuit. like a pale green…
Well, I cannot wait for the ‘saggy pants’ stupidity to end. Thankfully, I have NOT seen that in church…